Packing machinery



Aug. 16, 1932.

\w. E. MOLINS 1,872,090

PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 16, W32. w. E. MOLINS PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 16, 1932- WALTER EVERETT IOLINS, OI DEPT-FORD, LONDON, ENGLAND PACKIN G MACHINERY Application filed July 23, 1928, Serial No. 294,844, and in Great Britain Angnlt 18, 1927.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to packing machinery, and more particularly to machines for packing cigarettes, and has for its object the provision of a machine whereb cigarettes may be automatically packe in a box having a hinged lid.

The present invention consists of a packing machine wherein a predetermined number of cigarettes or like articles are removed from a hopper and automatically deposited in a box having a hinged lid, and means are arranged for automatically closing the lid of the loaded box.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan of a machine constructed according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the 'box filling and closing mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, looking in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 3, of the mechanism for transferring a batch of cigarettes to the box.

Fig. 6 is a plan of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section of Fig. 5 on the line BB.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a filled cigarette box as packed on the machine.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a hopper 1 adapted to accommodate cigarettes which is located above the bed 2 of the machine, and is provided with a series of vertical vanes 3 which are adapted to arrange the cigarettes in superimposed rows, each containing a predetermined number of cigarettes. The hopper is preferably constructed according to U. S. Patents 1,601,257, 1,618,214 and 1,668,693.

Arranged to move below the vanes of the hopper is a conveyor (not shown) which is adapted to remove automatically one row of cigarettes at a time from the vanes of the hopper and deposit the same upon the bed of the machine and thereafter deposit one or more rows of cigarettes upon the first row. 50 When the required number of rows of cigarettes have been deposited upon the bed of the machine a second conveyor 4 engages with the batch of cigarettes and moves the same through mechanism 5 adapted to envelop the cigarettes in a strip of foil 6 (Fig. 8), which preferably extends around the ciga rettes in the direction of their longitudinal axes. The two ends of the foil are arranged to meet, for example, at the central line of the upper surface of the cigarettes. The batch of cigarettes in their initial movement through the foiling mechanism which is preferably constructed according to U. S. Patent 1,468,246, meets a web of foil from which a strip is automatically severed as the cigarettes meet the same. The foil is moved along the bed of the machine and is wrapped in a U formation about the ends of the cigarettes so that the upper limb of the U extends partway along the ci rettes and the lower limb of the U extends fiyond the end of the cigarettes which is in engagement with the pusher piece of the conveyor.

The batch of cigarettes is thereafter moved into engagement with a transfer device comprising a pusher piece 7, which is adapted to move to the rear of the batch of cigarettes as the conveyor 4 disengages the same and carry the cigarettes along towards the open box 8 (Fig. 5) In order to permit the pusher piece 7 to take up its position behind the batch of cigarettes, the conveyor is tripped by a hardened plate 9 (Fig. 6). The pusher 'piece 7 is operated in the following manner:

A quadrant 10 furnished with gear teeth is mounted freely upon the forward conveyor spindle 11. Behind the quadrant 10 a crank 12 is secured to the spindle 11 so that the same rotates therewith. A connecting rod 13 is attached to the crank 12 and the other end of the rod 13 is pivoted to a lever 14 adapted to rock about a centre 15. A curved link 16 is also pivoted to the lever 14 and the other end of t lrie link 16 is attached to the quadrant at 1 As the conveyor spindle 11 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow, the crank 12 rotates therewith and rocks the lever 14 through the medium of the connecting rod 1 13, thereby causing the quadrant 10 to oscillate on the spindle 11. Above the quadrant.

10 there is mounted on a pin 19 a pinion 18 which is secured to the guide bracket 20. The pinion 18 also engages with a rack 21 which is fixed to a slide 22 adapted to slide in the guide 20. At the opposite side of the slide 22 is mounted a pro ecting spindle 23, adapted to partly rotate in a bearing 25 formed on a slide 22, and on which an arm 24 is fixed carrying the pusher piece 7. A lever 26 is pinned to the spindle 23 and a small roller 27 is carried at the opposite end of the lever 26. The roller 27 is adapted. to ride on fixed guides 28 and 29 (Fig. and on a pivoted guide 30 in the following manner:--

As the slide 22' moves forward carrying with it the pusher piece 7, the roller 27 runs down the guide 28 in the manner indicated in Fig. 7, and lifts the pivoted guide 30 about the pivot 31. As the slide 22 moves on its return stroke the roller 27 runs on the upper surface of the pivoted guide 30' along the fixed guide 29, and then drops down the gap between guides 28 and 29 in order to move along the'lower path on the outward stroke. By this motion the pusher piece 7 moves on a level with the bed 2 during the forward stroke thereof and is raised on the return stroke to clear the next batch of cigarettes which has been delivered to the transfer position in the meantime. The pusher piece 7 pushes the batch of cigarettes along a plate 32 which forms an extension of the surface of the bed 2, side guides 33 being provided to control the acket.

When a atch of cigarettes has reached the end of the plate 32 an open box 8 is arranged in the position shown in Fig. 5, and

the batch tilts downwardly from the endof the plate 32- into the box and is thrust downwardly by means of a pivoted plate 34 operated by a cam 35 until the batch is square in the box. The box then contains the batch of cigarettes with one portion of the foil wrapper 6 lying flush with the upper surface of the cigarettes and the other portion standing upright against the edge of the plate 32.

At the end of the bed 2 along which the .cigarettes are moved is arranged another machine bed 38 upon which is mounted a conveyor 36 operable to move in a direction at right angles to the initial movement of the cigarettes as indicated by the arrow C, Fig. 2. The conveyor 36 carries pusher pieces 37 whose position with respect to the bed 38 of this portion of the machine is controlled by upper and lower guide rails 39 and 40 in the manner hereinafter described. Above the bed 38 of the machine is mounted amagazine 41 in which the closed boxes 42 are stacked. The pusher piece 37 travels beneath the magazine 41 and removes the lowermost box and conveys the same along the bed between a along the bed of the machine.

. 44 carried on a bracket 45 and mounted at an g ngle2with respect to the bed as indicated in As the box moves along between' rollers 43, the lid first comes into contact with the lower roller 44 and owing to the angular dis position of said roller and the friction between its surface and the lid of thebox, the lid tends to run upwardly in a direction parallel to the axis of the roller. This causes the box lid to lift a certain amount and a similar operation takes lace as the lid comes into contact with the igher roller 44.

The box lid is then ,suliiciently open for a curved folder 46 to engage with its under surface and swing it through 180 so that i a box is then in the position shown in Fig. 5.

A guide rail 47 (see Figs. 3 and 5) is fixed to the bed of the machine and is located between the rear of the box and the adjacent side of the lid and serves to guide the box When the opened box reaches the transfer position D,

(Fig. 2), the wrapped batch of cigarettes is thrust into the same in the manner previously described.

In order to enable this operation to be carried out, the box must remain stationary at the position D for a short time and in order to effect this, the pusher piece 37 is tripped out of contact with the box so that it ceases to carry the same along.

The tripping of the pusher piece 37 is effected by means of the guide rails 39 and 40.

On reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the pusher piece 37 carries a roller 37a at one end which runs on the guide rails 39 and 40 and determines the position of the same with respect to the surface of the bed of the machine. When the pusher piece 37 has reached the position D, the roller 37a drops down the step 48 between the rails 39 and 40. The tripping of the pusher piece is further assisted y a trip plate 49 (Fig. 4). The pusher piece 37 leaves the box at the position D and gradually rises again as the roller 37 (1 runs up the steps 50 in the guide rail 40, and on the left of the position D the pusher piece 37 engages with another box which has been taken along by the previous conveyor and left at the position D.

As one pusher piece 37 carries a box into the position D it pushes from that position the box which was left there by the previous pusher piece, and this box drops down on to a lower level of the bed which is shown in Fig. 4 so that when the conveyor piece rises it may engage with it. The pusher piece 37 carries the box along beneath a. labelling mechanism which applies a strip 51 (Fig. 8)

on to the upper surface of the foiled batch of cigarettes leaving the ends projecting over each end of the box.

The label applying mechanism is fully described in British patent specification No. 21082/27 and comprises a stamp magazine 52, an oscillating sucker 53, gumming apparatus 54 and a suction transfer wheel 55. The stamps are taken from the magazine 52 by the oscillating sucker 53 and carried down to a gum applying wheel 56. The gummed label is then taken from the wheel 56 by the suction wheel 55 and transferred on to the upper surface of the wra ped cigarettes. A detecting apparatus 57 o the kind described in British patent specification No. 21082/27 is furnished as shown on Fig. 2 so that a stamp is not fed unless there is a box ready to receive it. After the label is applied, the opened box passes beneath another curved folder 58 which closes the lid, and in so doing bends down the projecting ends of the stamps on to the shoulders of the box and simultaneously folds down the upstanding flap of the foil wrapper. The box is then discharged from the end of the machine for further treatment.

It will be appreciated that instead of wrapping the cigarettes in foil, the same may be inserted automaticall into the box without the foil wrapping y arranging suitable guide members at the transfer position D, as shown, for instance, in Figure 6 of the drawings in which the guide members have been simply extended to a length suflicient to properly provide for the delivery of the cigarettes without the foil wrapping. Further, the boxes, instead of being fed in a closed condition may be opened and placed on the bed by hand, this arrangement being preferable when dealin with very large boxes.

Thus it will be seen that according to the present invention there is provided a machine which automatically inserts a predetermined number of cigarettes in a box having a hinged lid thereby obviating the necessity of having the boxes packed by hand and considerably increasing the speed at which such boxes may be packed.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for packin cigarettes or like articles in a box having a hinged lid, the combination with a hopper, of means for periodically removing a predetermined number of cigarettes from the hopper, means for folding a wrapper in a U form about one end of the cigarettes so that one limb of the U is longer than the cigarettes and depositing the same in the box and means for thereafter automaticall closing the lid of the box said longer limb o the wrap r being folded around the op site end of h e cigarettes by the action of epositing the same in the box and closing the lid.

2. In a machine for packing cigarettes or like articles in a box having a hinged lid, the combination with a hopper, of means for periodically removing a predetermined numer of cigarettes from the hopper a magazine for receiving boxes with the IRIS closed, means for removing the boxes one at a time from said magazine and feeding said boxes in succession toward the cigarettes, means for engaging the lids of the boxes during the feeding movement to open the same, and means for depositing the cigarettes in the opened boxes, said means for engaging the lids of the boxes comprising a device arranged to contact with the outer face of the side of the lid to initiate the opening movement, and a stationary guide member for completing the movement.

3. In a machine for opening boxes having hinged lids, the combination with a conveyer for receiving and moving the boxes, of a roller adapted to contact tangentially with the side of the lid, said roller being supported on an axis inclined to the direction of movement of the box, whereby the lid tends to move toward a plane at right angles to the axis of the roller to open the lid.

4. In a machine for packmg cigarettes or like articles in a box having a hinged lid, the combination with a hopper, of means for periodically removing a predetermined number of cigarettes from t e hopper, a magazine for receiving boxes with the lids thereof closed, means for withdrawing the boxes one at a time from said magazine, and feeding the same in a predetermined path, means associated with said last named means for opening the lid of each box, means for applying a wrapper to the cigarettes and depositin the same in the box, and means for therea ter automatically closing the lid of the box.

5. In a machine for packinglfligarettes or like articles in a box having a ged lid, the combination with a hopper, of means for periodically removing a redetermined number of cigarettes from the liopper and depositing the same in the box, means for depositing an adhesive band across the box and over the cigarettes with the ends of the band extending beyond the sides of the box and means for thereafter automaticall slosmg the lid of the box to force the free en s of the adhesive band into engagement with the sides of the box.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature. I

WALTER EVERETT MOLINS. 

